RadioInsight

Dan Mason’s reboot of the changes made during Joel Hollander’s reign as CBS Radio President continues to pick up steam as two more FM Talk stations went by the wayside today.

In Detroit, 97.1 WKRK changes its calls to WXYT-FM and began a full simulcast with “1270 Sports” under the name “Detroit’s Sports Powerhouse”. The new lineup features former WKRK afternoon drive hosts Jeff Deminski & Bill Doyle in mornings, Scott Anderson & Doug Karsch 10am-2pm, Mike Valenti & Terry Foster 2-6pm, Pat Caputo 6-10pm, and Dennis Fithian 10pm-2am in addition to live broadcast rights for Tigers Baseball, Lions Football, Red Wings Hockey, and University of Michigan sports.

Dropped as part of the changes are ESPN’s Mike & Mike, and most of WKRK’s lineup including Opie & Anthony, Johnny D, Motor City Middays with Jay Towers, Bill McAllister, and Shila, and Loveline. More information at Michiguide.com.

In Pittsburgh, “93.7 The Zone” and its “The Man Station” moniker are gone after six short months. The station is stunting with Christmas Music and promoting a new format to launch Friday, October 5th at 5:00pm. In addition, a website located at pitts-urgh.com has launched asking what is missing in the market. What’s missing in the name is “B” as in longtime CHR “B94″ that occupied that frequency until 2004. As we go into Net Gnome mode, both B94.com and B94fm.com are STILL registered to CBS Radio as they never let the domains expire. Unfortunately the WBZZ calls have since been acquired by Regent Comunications 105.7 The Buzz in Albany, NY. More info at PBRTV.com

Neil Best of Newsday reports that Citadel Broadcasting is close to finalizing a contract with Don Imus to launch a syndicated show to be based at WABC or WPLJ in New York.

It is unknown at this time whether Imus would be in his familiar morning timeslot, but Best reports that newscaster Charles McCord will once again be part of the show, but the role of producer Bernard McGuirk is still being determined.

Over the past couple of days a rumor has been going around that an anonymous registration of Fresh1059.com was associated with a possible change at WCKG in Chicago. The domains were registered using a Network Solutions feature that allows a registrant to hide their contact information. All that appears is the name of the registrant, a Susan Hepburn.

If I were Susan Hepburn and I were registering domains for a radio station in Chicago why would I also register fresh1019.com, fresh1029.com, fresh1039.com, fresh1049.com, fresh1069.com, and fresh1079.com?

This is a case of cyber-squatting and nothing more. No connection to WCKG whatsoever. Just like a company in Las Vegas has registered every domain that begins with “Movin” and a commercial FM frequency after it.

We’re not denying that there may still be a change at WCKG, we’re just stating that it has nothing to do with the rumor that’s been making the rounds the last couple of days.

Charleston, SC is going to see a shakeup of its radio dial that hasn’t been seen anywhere in quite some time. Here’s a quick rundown of the changes:

The programming shifts may not stop there. With WNKT’s move to the Columbia market failry imminent, Citadel may be looking to keep its successful Country programming in the market. Citadel has registered 21! domains for a programming change at sister “Sunny” 96.9 WSUY. While being the only Adult Contemporary station in the market, WSUY’s numbers have struggled lately and is currently behind the rimshot WNKT. Citadel has registered all of the following domains:

That’s only 7, however Citadel has also registered the .net and .us equivalent of every domain name listed above. Covering all of its bases. While many of the later moves regarding Apex’s stations may not happen until 2008 or 2009, Citadel is about to make the first moves on what will be many in the Charleston market.

New Lineup At WOR

With all of the talk radio buzz currently focused on Don Imus’ rumored return at WABC, 710 WOR has unveiled a new lineup debuting this Monday, October 8.

Bill O’Reilly’s syndicated show moves from 2-4pm to a live clearance from 12pm to 2pm. Westwood One’s Dennis Miller show is added from 2-4pm. Steve Malzberg moves from nights to 4 to 6pm replacing the now departed Hennican & White. Michael Savage stays in at 6 to 9pm, while Dr. Joy Browne is moved from 12-2 to 9 to 11pm.

The morning portion of the lineup remains the same with Joe Bartlett and Donna Hanover from 5-9am, Joan Hamburg from 9-11am, and Food Talk with Mike Colamenco from 11am to noon.

New Middayers at WBLS and WQHT

Jasmine Sanders joins 107.5 WBLS for middays replacing Guy Black. Sanders previously worked at WQOK Nashville and WJTT Chattanooga and was most recently in the record business. Meanwhile at crosstown WQHT, Big Dennis Rivera, who had been filling in since Fatman Scoop left in May is given the midday slot on a permanent basis (or as permanent as anything in the radio industry can be).

Changes in Central Jersey

90.3 WVPH, a joint operation of Piscataway High School and Rutgers University – Livingston Campus has begun transmitting from its new tower on the Rutgers campus. The move ups the station’s power from 200 watts at 141 feet to 100 watts at 369 feet, effectively doubling the stations reach. More in the Home News Tribune.

Down the road in New Brunswick, there’s a new lineup in place at Greater Media AC WMGQ with the departure of PD/Afternoons Tim Tefft. Chris McCoy is still in mornings, Debbie Mazzella who had been APD/Middays at 94.3 WJLK takes over the midday shift, John Lisk moves from nights to afternoon drive, and Jan Ochs shifts from middays to nights. Additionally sister 100.1 WJRZ PD Jeff Rafter adds PD duties at Magic 98.3. Philadelphia radio vet Glenn Kalina takes Rafter’s midday spot at the aforementioned WJRZ.

At noon today, Emmis Broadcasting dropped the CHR format at “Radio Now 93.1” WNOU and became the first station in the country to go all Christmas through the holiday season. On January 7, 2008 the News/Talk format on 1070 WIBC will move to the 93.1 frequency with 1070 going all-sports as “ESPN 1070″ while keeping its status as flagship station for the Indianapolis Colts, Indiana Pacers, the Indy Racing League, and University of Indiana Football.

“Our research shows that we can best grow and serve our audiences by splitting and extending our programming,” Tom Severino, vice president and market manager of Emmis’ Indianapolis radio properties, in a prepared statement. “WIBC is still going to have the biggest radio news team in the state and the best talk lineup.”

Chris Pickett, who had just joined WNOU as Program Director in June is returning to his former station: KVUU Colorado Springs.

The “Radio Now” CHR format will continue online and on 93.1-HD2. There’s no word on what crosstown 950 WXLW will do with the pending loss of the ESPN affiliation.

More info at WIBC: WIBC to Make Switch to FM

Instant Insight: WNOU was Emmis’ highest rated FM in the market, but a lower rated sports station will bill much higher than a young-end CHR. By moving WIBC to FM, they are admitting that Cumulus’ 93.9 WWFT is a growing threat. A puzzling move is the use of all-Christmas as a filler format as sister AC WYXB will be the most affected. The big winners should be Entercom Adult CHR WZPL, Radio-One Urban WHHH, and Radio Disney WRDZ-FM (one of the few Radio Disney affliates which not only is on the FM dial but also appears in the ratings), which should pick up most of the lost listeners from WNOU.

Two days after flipping CHR WNOU to All-Christmas in preparation for the move of WIBC from AM to FM in January, Emmis Broadcasting has sold the intellectual property for the “Radio Now” CHR format to Radio-One. RadioNow’s website says the format is now available on 100.9. That’s the former “Smooth Jazz 100.9″ WYJZ.

At 4:30pm, WYJZ signed off with Jeff Lorber’s “Anthem For A New America”. Following a half-hour of looping a sweeper “Radio Now, NOW at 100.9″, the station segued into Akon’s “Bartender”.

The Press Release follows below:

Read more…

A week ago we reported that Citadel Communications registered 21 domains related to a potential format change at “Sunny 96.9” WSUY in Charleston, SC.

The station is currently running promos for sister CHR “95SX” WSSX’s morning show announcing that Sunny is changing formats Friday at 7:00am and to tune over to 95SX. Sunny’s website has been replaced with a splash page promoting 95SX as well.

We fully expect 96.9 to flip to Country as “The Wolf”. All 21 Wolf related domains are now pointing to an under construction page. We’ll probably see a simulcast on fellow sister “Cat Country” 107.5 WNKT to move its listeners over before WNKT completes its pending move into the Columbia market.

Struggling AAA “105.7 The River” KXRV Salt Lake City may be on its last legs. Clear Channel has registered MyCountry1057.com and has tied it to KXRV’s calls. How do we tie this to Salt Lake City and not Clear Channel stations in other markets?The site can also be accessed at KXRV-IP.clearchannel.com and its weather page points to Salt Lake City.

KXRV’s is located at the bottom of the ratings pack lately; registering a 1.1 in the Spring book. Interestingly, Clear Channel sister Hot AC 99.5 KJMY already uses the “My” branding in the Salt Lake market.

Salt Lake City is currently home to four other Country stations. Citadel’s 93.3 KUBL “The Bull” is tied for 2nd in the market at 5.5 12+, Citadel Classic Country 107.5 KKAT was at a 2.2, and Simmons 101.5 KEGA “Eagle 101.5” is at 1.5. Locally Owned 104.3 KSOP did not have its numbers published in the most recent book as it is not an Arbitron subscriber, but in the Spring Phase 2 trends, it registered a 3.2 12+.

We’ve previously discussed the rumored changes coming to CBS FM Talker 105.9 WCKG in Chicago. Unlike the previous domains, CBS Radio itself has registered a pair of domains related to past rock stations in the market:

What both stations had in common was their primary competitor: 97.9 The Loop. In its present incarnation, WLUP is the market’s Classic Rock station and shares the bulk of the Rock audience with its Emmis sister Alternative WKQX “Q101“.

We’re not sure what to make of these registrations. Could be a red herring or a hint of a future Rock format at WCKG much like its former Free-FM brethren in New York and Philadelphia.